loads of forums are quiet, why? is facebook killing them off?

My 2p coming from the other side.

I only recently joined driftworks and sxoc.

Facebook is great for buying parts as it so easy to upload pictures. You can generally get an idea of who you are dealing with, as it's a personal page and usually easy to spot a fake.
Where as forums you are dealing with a user name usually (davo8981323018) or something along the lines.
I feel more comfortable actually knowing who I am dealing with. Unless it's an old member from the forum who has a good reputation.

However the main thing faceballs lacks is any sense of community. There are no pages to ask tech questions, or generally talk shit about cars and drifting.
But Every time I have come to driftworks or sxoc or the likes. No one really botheres replying, or you get a smug comment telling you to check the manual or use the search bar. (Which I always do)
I think forums really need to up their game. Sxoc especially, driftworks is definitely more popular at the moment. But needs to sort the picture upload issue out, it's a massive pita. Tapatalk works well for that on sxoc.

Even as a new member I think it would be a huge shame to lose the forums. But I think the mods and the members both need to put a bit more effort in.
The layouts are great but no one seems to want to help.

I used to own an mx5 as a drift car and the Facebook community. (Mx5nutz) is brilliant. You can ask any question and people will try help. I mean most of them know feck all about the question they are trying to answer but the point is they try.
Now I have a sbody I have no idea where to look for help if I'm stuck with something.
Facebook has no where and no one use the forums, or trys to help.

I think it would be great if the forums picked up a bit as they are a great source of information. But most post found when searching are years old and not nessicarily relevant. That and the 14 pages of talking bollocks for the one person who posted something useful.
 
I don't think Photobucket throwing the subscription out to the masses is going to help matters either...i think FB will play an even bigger part now
 
rick_65ers said:
driftworks is definitely more popular at the moment. But needs to sort the picture upload issue out, it's a massive pita.
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Capture.PNG
 
rick_65ers said:
But Every time I have come to driftworks or sxoc or the likes. No one really botheres replying, or you get a smug comment telling you to check the manual or use the search bar. (Which I always do)
Click to expand...

Search bars on many forums are crap, bordering on completely useless.
Google works really well actually, I just use that to search forums instead of the bar.
 
Agree with you in part Rick. But I think forums recently have put alot of effort into having server space to allow people to upload directly. This is now easier than it has ever been to upload pictures (see my snarky post above).

As most have said, its community that lacks. Im a moderator on an owners club forum and facebook page for that owners club and a for sale page for the car. People who have genuine interest tend to be localised to the forum, whilst people on facebook will see a post or picture and think 'ok ill like that' and it becomes saturated with people. This makes it pretty hard to get a clear answer to a technical issue or organise a meet or event. Just look at most events on facebook '3 Going, 1645 Interested, 1 not going'.

As for getting scammed, if someone wants to scam you they will do it on a forum or on facebook.

For me the biggest selling point of forums is the technical knowledge. The ability to go on there with an issue and have someone with the answer, and, if not, you can find the answer and share it for future owners to find.

Finally, downsides, i think Rick touched on it above, alot of the old school forums like SXOC become quite cliquey, and it makes it difficult to approach. You miss all the in jokes like every technical issue being attributed to boost leaks etc etc. And at that point it loses its sense of community and just becomes the same 20 or 30 people doing the same thing every year.

So yeah, youre damned if you do, and damned if you dont. Personally i still try and post on here, look most days at the tech section to see if i can help with anything or lend any advice and theres still alot of great workmanship in the build threads that are awesome to read. I think this is one of the last great social forums and theres a few people complaining but not many of whom have posted up much recently ;-)
 
Yeah ive never bothered with tapatalk, i dont know why you would, chrome on the pc, chrome on the phone. job done.
 
If there are any suggestions for tweaks or revisions we can do here to make things more straightforward/helpful/usable for people, we're open to suggestions :)
The move to this new forum software was quite a big job and we knew there was always going to be a period where people hated on stuff just cos it was different, but now the dust has settled a bit we can look at improving things further.

Is it really not obvious you can now just easily add images? I wonder how we can make that easier to understand...

r3k1355 said:
Might be a TapaTalk user though.
That app makes everything look mega horrible, no wonder people don't wanna use Forums!
Click to expand...
Yeah, tapatalk was kind of useful with the old vbulletin software as the mobile experience was terrible otherwise, but with this new software as it works much nicer on mobiles and other devices now, so we've removed tapatalk functionality.
 
One of the best things about forums as mentioned above is the tech sections that you don't get on Facebook. Unfortunately with Photobucket committing corporate suicide most of the "How To" guides on the forums like SAU, Zilvia, SXOC etc. etc. are full of broken image links and missing info.

If DW are hosting all the images uploaded themselves, maybe now's the time to create a Technical forum with how to guides approved by mods and locked for editing.

Could be set out per vehicle and system:
i.e. Nissan > Skyline > R32 > Powertrain > "How to replace gearbox seals".
or Nissan > 200sx > S14 > Engine > "How to fit rocker arm stoppers".

It seems like a lot of info is disappearing from the web and it would be good to preserve it!! Just my thoughts anyway.
 
Have you installed the photobucket fix extension to Chrome??
Get back the majority of pictures that cannot be seen.
 
When was the image button fixed? I posted.my car for sale 2weeks ago and it would'nt let me upload from my phone.

I had to piss about uploading them on my laptop. I just tried now from my phone and it seems to work, so my apologies. No need for the patronising comments though, lets not make this like facebook.


I think the approved how to guides in their own specific section, like tommy suggested would be great idea.
 
Haha joined this forum almost 20 years ago!!

The one constant thing in life is change...

Dont resist, try not to get too upset, remember the good (old) times but look forward to the new and never stop wanting to learn.

Adaptation is the key to survival.

When our grandchildren ask us "what were petrol cars like?", we can sit back and smile (provided that's not what killed the planet...).

This has always been and remains a bastion for knowledge and community for people with a common interest. Dont think it will be here forever but still enjoy it while it lasts. Grateful to those that continue to post and the founders for their commitment where other would have given up.

Lets hope we get another 20 years out of the old girl!!!
 
I agree that Facebook affects forums. I started using Facebook back in 2007, and I can't believe I've spent all this time on it. This social network is nothing but a platform for photography and a bulletin board, and since it is very popular, all my friends and relatives are on it, and I feel that it has captured their lives, they have become too lazy to visit their friends or me
 
The problem with the Facebook pages now days is everyone is so quick to comment if they think the price is too expensive.

People don’t understand that S Bodies aren’t 4k anymore so if you list something that they don’t like they’re quick to jump on it.

The 180/200sx UK buy sellers FB page has the same people commenting when they don’t like the price of something.
 
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